Shimmering Stars Cover Songs: Ohia on New 7-Inch

To date, Vancouver pop revivalists Shimmering Stars have favoured a reverb-swamped lo-fi recording style. To record their new seven-inch, however, they hit up an actual recording studio with producer Colin Stewart (Black Mountain, Destroyer). The result is Ghosts Past, which will be out in Europe on March 5 via Almost Musique.

In addition to two original tracks, the seven-inch includes a cover of Songs: Ohia's "Hold on Magnolia." Fittingly, 10 percent of the profits from each copy sold will go towards Jason Molina's medical fund, which aims to help the Songs: Ohia mastermind overcome his recent personal struggles.

In a statement, Shimmering Stars leader Rory McClure said of the 10 percent donation, "It's not a huge amount of money but we hope that our humble offering will help Jason on his road to recovery, which we are certain he will find. It's fitting that 'Hold on Magnolia' is a song about redemption."

Of the two original songs, he added that "Slaves" is "an older song that speaks to some of the more familiar Shimmering Stars themes: heartache, alienation, anxiety, and fear" while "When I See You Again" is "a song of redemption and hope, and reaches for something bigger than our earlier material."

You can hear the latter tune below. While this song is as harmony-rich and reverb-heavy as usual, there's no doubt these guys have done some growing up since last year's Violent Hearts.